Cleveland's motto:

Wait 'til next year!

The Cavaliers blew a perfect opportunity to send the Pistons packing in a pivotal game six in Cleveland, but a sudden deficit in toughness cost them key rebounds that would have iced the game. That was enough to get the Pistons back on track for a game seven showdown in Detroit and the Pistons responded by humiliating the Cavs in the second half. It was bad.

Even so, there is a lot to be happy about if you're a Cavaliers fan. 50 wins, and a strong post season showing is more than you can expect from a team that was largely revamped in the off season and hampered by an extended injury to its starting shooting guard. Larry Hughes showed some potential in the final game against the Pistons, even though he came unglued late and failed to give the Cavs much to work with in the second half.

There's a lot of work to be done. Anderson Varejao needs to hit the gym everyday in this off season and develop skills that will compliment his tenacity. He has the potential to be a strong power forward which is a concern if Drew Gooden is able to secure a contract that the Cavs can't match. If Gooden stays, he needs to work on his conditioning and have some energy in the post season. He seemed to get tired down the stretch and failed to give the Cavs a consistent presence in the low post. The one thing the Cavs sorely lacked in the last two games was backbone. Lebron was the heart and soul, but they needed something else and that was late game dominance under the basket.

Speaking of questionable play in the paint, what can you say about Zydrunas Ilgauskas? He showed some signs of life late in the series, but he didn't sustain anything. With his size and range he should have been scoring 20 points, blocking five shots and snagging 10 boards every night. Here's hoping Zydrunas hires a personal trainer and comes back next year with an extra 20 pounds of muscle on his lanky frame. Hitting those midrange jumpers is nifty, but I wouldn't mind seeing him knock some people around once in while. Seriously, Z, you're a tree. There's no way you should be falling away from the basket.

Larry Hughes needs to deliver. No more trips to the injured list. We need a minimum of 75 games per season. The Cavs signed him to a big contract hoping that his quickness would force teams to spread the floor and give Lebron a little more room to create. Even in the games where he was healthy, Hughes wasn't all that dynamic and his outside shot is a joke. In fact, the only solid long range threat the Cavs have is Donyell Marshall. Damon Jones can drill one every now and then, but he's a liability who turns the ball over too often and lacks any meaningful skills on defense. Eric Snow is a great defender but he's not a playmaker. He has no outside shot, limited passing skills and only an average ability to slash to the basket. His scoring average speaks volumes on the plight of the Cavaliers.

So who should the Cavs keep? That's a good question. Lebron's a start, but that's not exactly a revelation. Aside from that, it's not so simple. NBA contracts are tricky things and it's not always so easy to unload useless players. Just ask the Knicks about Penny Hardaway. If you're asking who he is, all you need to know is that there was a time people compared him to Magic Johnson. He was that good. Now the Knicks are paying him not to play. There is actually speculation that Penny Hardaway doesn't exist. Maybe Starr Jones ate him.

The Cavs would do well to retain the services of Drew Gooden. In spite of some weak performances, Drew is still developing his game and has demonstrated some key strengths on the boards and with the ball. He rebounds well, scores in traffic and plays solid defense. Not great, but solid. A little work under Mike Brown and another off season to tweak his game will do wonders. Gooden will be one of the premier power forwards in the game before long. He's no Tim Duncan, but he's on his way to that shelf just below the top. However, Gooden is no secret. There are people out there who would like to grab him up and the Cavs don't have enough money to throw Drew a high end offer.

A pipe dream for Cavs fans would be acquiring the services of Big Ben Wallace. While it's unlikely Detroit will let the heart and soul of their defense slip away, there will be opportunities to woo the musclebound menace and Cleveland could certainly use the help on defense. Sure, Wallace is a liability with the ball in his hands, but Lebron can pick up Ben's share of the points. Of course, it won't happen. If it does, then Danny Ferry should see if the Spurs will trade Tim Duncan and Tony Parker for Luke Jackson and Ira Newble while the rest of us take cover from all of the flying pigs. The Cavs would have to dump big salaries to pull a Wallace deal off and it's unlikely the Cavs will be trading Z or Larry Hughes in hopes of freeing up the kind of money Wallace will command. Especially if they try to keep Gooden.

If Gooden leaves they will have to fortify their front court. Anderson might be able to step in and play the forward position, but they'll need another heavy to come in off the bench. Maybe help is already on the roster, maybe they'll have to lure in a marginal free agent and hope he plays with a big heart. Who knows? There will be plenty of big guys out there but timing and financing is everything. How long will it take the Cavs to realize they can or cannot afford Gooden? Who will be left on the market when/if he goes? How much money will they have to burn?

A critical weakness for the Cavs is at point guard and what they lack there is range. They need to long range shooter who can make good decisions with the ball when he isn't open. Lebron runs the offense well so a Steve Nash type is really a waste. It might be nice, but why bother? Sacrifice all that fancy lane driving for some long distance shooting. Eric Snow lacks range, Damon Jones lacks brains and the rest of the guards on the roster didn't do anything for the team, so the market has to bear fruit. Lindsey Hunter showed the Cavs his range in the playoffs and although he is getting long in the tooth, he should be able to contribute nicely for another season or two. Chucky Atkins isn't setting the world on fire but he does have a respectable 3 point percentage and might do well playing with a guy like Lebron who will have patience with a developing player. A great fit for the Cavs might be Bobby Jackson who can play either guard position and shoot from the outside. But can the Cavs afford them? Maybe David Wesley is an option. Snow is a nice defensive asset to keep handy, but his range is too short to keep him in as a starter. They need a starter who will force a defender out of the box. Then Lebron can split the double team and make big plays. Zip the ball into Z for an easy bucket or kick the ball out to "blank" for the trey. Larry Hughes would make for a nice outlet who could exploit the back side for easy layups.

As it stands right now, Donyell Marshall is that clutch X-factor who can come in and present match up problems because of his size and range. He's a solid forward who can stroke shots from behind the arc, but he's not a 30 minute guy anymore. He's an excellent sixth man who can provide a nice boost, but they need a starting guard who can provide that range early and a starting forward who can wear opponents down. Nevertheless, the Cavs need to develop his role on the team and work harder to use it as an advantage throughout the season. Get a little more depth out of the starters and let Donyell provide some fireworks in nice five minute sessions three of four times a game.

Overall the Cavs need to get tough. Lebron is a specimen, but asking him to average 46 minutes per game in the playoffs is ridiculous. It's no wonder he couldn't find his range in the last couple of games against Detroit, his arms had to feel like jelly! He might have bristled at being asked if he was tired, but only an idiot would think that fatigue wasn't a factor. I wouldn't have asked the question. Duh. He averaged 42.5 minutes per game over 79 games in the regular season and then played some of the most intense basketball anybody has ever played in the post season. Back to back seven game blockbusters? Of course the kid was tired. I'm tired just thinking about it. You can't do that to a player night after night, even if he is 21. 40 minutes should be the maximum. If you can't win a game playing your star player for 40 minutes you don't deserve to win. Jordan didn't average much more than 40 minutes per game in any season of his career. He was usually under 40.

The Cavs should seriously look into hiring a strength and conditioning consultant. Aside from Lebron, nobody else showed consistent toughness or any meaningful degree of stamina. Every player on that team should be able to deliver 30 minutes of solid professional basketball every night. Strength, stamina and quickness are all skills that can be developed over the course of a few months. The Cavaliers organization needs to instill a sense of commitment in each player and challenge them all to come back to the team bigger, stronger and faster than they were this past season. There's nothing wrong with losing to a team that has more talent, but there's no excuse for getting beaten because you weren't tough enough. Detroit had talent, but the Cavs got pushed around in the second halves of the last two games. Had the Cavs been able to stay tough late in game six, they'd still be playing. There's no excuse for getting pushed around. Don't apologize for it, just don't let it happen again.

Danny Ferry needs to keep a close eye on Mike Brown. Even though the Cavs will be making moves this off season, most of this cast will be returning and Brown will have to show that he has built on this past season by making the team better. Defense will have to improve, Lebron will have to play less and the team will have to win more, or Brown will have to go. I wasn't impressed with the way Lebron was handled this season and shudder to think what might happen if Lebron goes down for four weeks. Of course Mike Brown can't build a winner without Lebron, but if they are going to win a title they should be good enough to at least make the playoff without him. As it stands right now the Cavs would be a 20 win team if Lebron wasn't there. That's not good enough. Mike Brown wasn't hired to coach Lebron, he was hired to build the supporting cast. The pressure's on. The Cavs were a defensive stop and a rebound shy of advancing past the mighty Pistons. We can take this one on the chin, but there's no room for stepping backward next season.

Rasheed's big fat mouth.

After the Cleveland Cavaliers showed guts by taking game three of the Eastern Conference semi-finals following a thorough schooling in Detroit, Rasheed Wallace dismissed the effort as a last gasp by a much weaker team. The Cavs responded by beating the Piston's at their own game, winning ugly in a 74-72 slugfest that featured sloppy play by Lebron James and very little help from the rest of the starters. It wasn't pretty but it proved that the Cavs don't have to be perfect to beat Detroit.

I don't mind players being confident. Sometimes a little arrogance is refreshing in a world so often muddied by cliche-riddled platitudes and abundant false modesty. I respected Rasheed Wallace for stating what most of the sports world believed to be true: The Cavs got lucky at home and probably wouldn't smell another victory until next season. As much as I wanted to see Lebron and the guys serve up a big fat plate of steaming crow, deep down I doubted that the Cavs had much of a shot.

Mind you, it's not the absence of Larry Hughes that concerns me. Truth be told, Hughes is highly overrated. Flip Murray is a better guard, at this point, than Hughes and the Cavs are a better team with Hughes on the bench. Condolences to Larry and the Hughes family, but don't feel the need to hurry back on the team's account. You aren't needed. No, the problem facing the Cavs in this series is the fact that outside of Lebron James, the Cavs have no consistent scoring threat. The Pistons only carry one offensive liability and Ben Wallace brings so much to the team in the way of defense and rebounding there's no need to sweat his inconsistent point totals. The Pistons are a better team. Period.

But the better teams don't always win. There's something called heart. And luck. You can't measure either. The Pistons were lucky to be so accurate from three point range in the first two games. Sure, skill plays a huge part in it, but even under the best conditions a great three point shooter is only going to nail 60% of his shots. That average generally falls below 50% during the game and good long range shooters usually take satisfaction in something between 30% and 40%. Damon Jones has an NBA career because he is a little over 35% from three point land. The Pistons were hitting something like 80% of their three pointers in the first two games. That's luck.

The Cavs didn't play with much heart in those first two games. That's thanks in large part to Zydrunas Ilgauskas not stepping up and delivering the sort of performance you expect out of a 7'3" center. Between his "ole" defense and candy-ass offense, Z's proven that he's not the kind of guy the Cavs can rely on in big games. When Z fouls somebody they mange to finish the shot and end up with three points. How's that for soft? Clearly Z lacks heart and so does most of the team. Lebron showed some heart. He always does, but the rest of the team didn't seem to show up.

That changed in Cleveland. Mike Brown found some magic in Anderson Varejao and the lanky Brazilian has been delivering a gritty performance, blocking key shots, grabbing crucial rebounds and scoring some hard fought points. He's not going to set the world on fire, but his effort is consistent 100% everytime. The guy wants to win and has been Lebron's go to guy in this series. Mix in some strong spurts by Flip Murray and solid effort by Donyell Marshall and you have a team that can scrap.

The first win could have been a fluke. A long layover, rabid fans and the surprisingly soft manner in which the Cavs folded in the first two games might have caught the Pistons off guard. It's easy for a juggernaut to get distracted in a seven game series and a loss is sometimes just what the doctor ordered. That's why Rasheed's prediction that the Cavs were done after one win wasn't so outlandish. No problem.

But then the Cavs took game four and evened up the series. Not only that, but they made Rasheed look something like a punk in doing it. The big man with the big mouth didn't put up much of a fight and the Cavs took control of the game with stout defense, hard fouls and solid rebounding. They intercepted passes, blocked shots and made the Pistons work for every last point and when that final buzzer sounded they found themselves in a best of three dog fight with the best team in the NBA. Surely 'Sheed would have to show the Cavs a little respect, right?

Nope. 'Sheed didn't miss a beat. He went right back into diss mode making it clear that the Cavaliers have no chance to beat the Pistons. None at all. Except that the Cavs proved that they aren't a fluke. Winning one game with Lebron catching fire in the fourth quarter is NBA basketball...there's no sweeping a superstar, but following that up with a nasty defensive struggle that sends the Pistons back to Detroit facing a must win situation isn't luck. That's reality.

Rasheed spoke of sunshine and dogs' asses, but the fact is that right now the Cavaliers are as good as the Pistons. Not on paper, but on the court. Where it counts. The statistics in this series prove that. 2-2. Even Steven. This isn't some 41-41 team winning two throw away games after falling 3-0. This is a legitimate contender rising to the occasion and taking control of its destiny.

Can the Cavs pull it off? That's the burning question, isn't it? And that's the point. A week ago Everybody had the Pistons in the finals and the debate was whether or not they would be playing the Spurs or the Mavs. Now the Pistons might be the biggest question mark in the NBA playoffs. I'm not doubting the Cavs. I think they can win it. I really do. They need two wins and we have yet to see Lebron at his level best for 48 minutes in this series. Even though Z is soft, there's still a possibility he might wake up one day and remember where he left his manhood. Larry Hughes might return from his brother's funeral and have something to play for.

Psychologically the Piston's have to be in trouble. The schoolyard bully has finally had his nose bloodied and doesn't know what to do. They're ripe for a collapse and if the Cavaliers can walk into that cat box they call The Palace and show some spunk, this series could be over. If the Cavs go up 3-2, the Pistons won't show up for game six. Yeah, they'll talk a great game, but you don't score points with your lips. You can't block a shot with a pronoun. Rasheed proved that the other night. Blah, blah, blah. Talk all you want, Wallace, but the score board tells a different tale.

Is Mike Brown a bad coach?

Let's face it. Lebron James is a man among boys. You can make arguments that Kobe, Nash or Duncan are better, but you'd be wrong. Lebron is one of the greatest players in the history of the NBA. Period. By the time he's done, he'll leave a permanent mark on the game. Not like Magic, or Michael. Like Wilt. He's that good. He will be the player by which all others will be judged.

So one would expect the Cavaliers to advance to the playoffs just because Lebron is there. With his ability to score 30 points, grab 7 boards and drop 7 dimes on a bad night, getting a post season bid is a given. I could coach the Cavaliers to the playoffs. And I still can't tell you what a pick and roll is. So is Mike Brown doing a good job or is he along for the ride?

I'm starting to think that he's in the passenger seat. The proof is in the performance of the rest of the Cavs. Lebron has been stellar. He stepped up his game in the playoffs and willed the Cavs to clutch victories. He hit game winners, blocked key shots and came up with timely steals. It's hard to find any faults in his performance. But the problem is with the rest of the team. Where's Ilgauskas? With Shaq playing at 70% most experts will contend that Zydrunas is the best true center in the east. Some will give him league wide props, but his box score looked pretty weak in the opening series and in game one against Detroit, the 7'3" center was shooting off-balance fade aways from well outside 10 feet. See that paint? That's where the center is supposed to dominate. Get in there, Z.

And then you have Larry Hughes. Some will argue that he's still getting his legs under him, but that's nonsense. He was out with a broken finger. Nobody told him to sit on a couch for six weeks. He could have been running and lifting and keeping his legs in shape. And his strong suit is supposed to be defense. Lock somebody up, Larry. Finding an open look with Lebron facing triple teams would be nice, but getting a hand in somebody's face once in a while might help. How many threes did Detroit drain in game one? Didn't Gilbert Arenas match Lebron point for point?

The bench has lacked consistency, but that wouldn't matter if the 2 and the 5 were showing up every night. Lebron's been amazing while the highly touted acquisition and the long time anchor have slept through entire games.

That's coaching. Mike Brown supposedly came from that hard-nosed Larry Brown school of hoopsology. Smart offense, tough defense and clutch plays were supposed to be the norm in this new Cavaliers game plan. Nobody expected miracles, but when a team that has a reputation for grinding out ugly wins scores more than 60 points at half time in the first game of a seven game series, you have to fault the defense. That's on the coach.

Lebron James is a coach's dream: a flat-out super star who respects authority without question... A franchise player who takes direction...A ready-made icon who embraces unselfish play...He's not a coaches dream, he's the league's dream. Give Lebron some help, play a little defense and Cleveland might actually get tired of winning titles. So what gives? Where's the D? Where's the Z? What happened to Larry Hughes?

Maybe it's too early to send Mike Brown packing. Maybe he's struggling with the sometimes lethargic Zydrunas Ilgauskas. Perhaps he'd feel better with a real playmaker at the point. Maybe Larry Hughes got lazy after he inked a cushy contract. There could be a number of things working against the guy and with this being the first time the Cavs have seen post season play in what must be 66 years, it's only fair to let him take this team back to the shop after the Pistons finish humiliating them over the next week.

It's not like anybody had the right to expect a visit to the finals this year. Danny Ferry just started filling roster spots, Lebron is only in his third year and it could take the rest of the team a full off season to grasp just how to go about helping him. But next year the bar will be set high. The Cavaliers will have to be the real thing. No more dramatic first round battles, dominate the weaker opponents and save the nailbiters for the conference finals. Next year the Cavs have to play like a championship team, not just a playoff contender. If they don't, Mike Brown will have to go. Or Lebron will.

Draft Experts afraid to go out on Limb.

Every year we get bombarded by NFL draft coverage. Everybody is breaking down players and rewriting somebody else's scouting report so they can get their face on TV. Sadly, nobody is taken to task four years later when the first two quarterbacks taken in the draft put their applications in at Wendy's. The worst is Mel Kiper Jr. who seemingly monopolizes the airwaves with his stolen expertise and hideous, Wayne Newton hair.

Give credit to Merrill Hodge for putting himself out there. Hodge is aggressively stating his case for draft day darlings Vince Young and Matt Leinart to be passed over until later rounds. Other commentators have bristled at his opinion, choosing to protect themselves by rating players exactly the way NFL scouts have them rated, but anybody who has paid attention to the draft knows that the experts are idiots. How else do you explain Brian Bosworth?

I like Vince Young. He's big strong and stood tall in the face of intense pressure. He was the only weapon Texas had against USC and he still managed to win that game, almost single-handed. I know he's a little raw and his accuracy is in question, but I have to defer to the big performances he turned in against Ohio State and USC. He might be a bust, but I think he's a gamble you have to take.

I'm not enamored with Matt Leinart. The guy is soft. He's what my mother would call a candy ass. Every time he's been hit hard he has shown cowardice. He crumbles like that sweet cracker crust on a nice cheese cake. That's facing the buttery soft defenses of the Pac-10. What happens in the NFL when Ray Lewis bloodies his chin on an ill-advised scramble? What will pretty boy do when Warren Sapp lays into him with all 330 pounds? Making matters worse, is the fact that Leinart throws like a sissy. He might be accurate, but if you can't throw a frozen rope 20 yards out, NFL DB's are going to eat you alive. Leinart's lobbing rainbows five yards down field.

Hodge has drawn a line in the sand and declared both QB's as potential busts. He could be proven wrong and people will hammer him for it. That's too bad. Mel Kiper Jr. spoke highly of Ryan Leaf and Tim Couch, but Mr. Draft Guru never took himself to task for failing to see the downside of those players. A year later he's telling the world how great Courtney Brown is going to be. Kiper's not an expert. He claims to be, but what he really does is picks the brain of NFL scouts and reports back on it. He talks about talent and potential, but he wouldn't know talent if he walked in on it sleeping with his wife. The guy is a clown.

Hodge might be too, but at least he's got the huevos to break from the crowd and take a stance on his own. It's easy to split hairs over whether Leinart or Young should go first, but to declare both of them washouts in waiting demonstrates that Hodge is doing his own work. And if history has anything to say about it, he'll be half right. That's more than you can say for the rest of them.

Indians need to seek a real ACE

The Cleveland Indians are ready to make a run at the World Series. They knocked on the door last year, mounting an incredible late season surge that almost knocked the White Sox out of the playoff race, but Tribe skipper Eric Wedge took a metal vacation with 6 games left and gave the AL Central away. How he managed to keep his job after showing the world how not to manage a red hot team is beyond me, but Mark Shapiro loves a good yes man.

Lousy management aside, the Indians got off to a great start in 2006 and have shown the rest of the league that they are ready to contend for real. That is if the rest of the league will cooperate and agree not to abuse their suspect bullpen. The Indians have a lot of offense and solid starting pitching so if they can slap a bandage on the middle relief they have a great chance at winning their division or at least clinching a wild card appearance. With some quality pitchers in AAA, the Tribe should be able to shore up the pen, so fans shouldn't be overly concerned. With the bullpen.

Even though this team is ready to contend, they are still missing a key component that is necessary if they want to win it all. They need that stud starting pitcher. An ace. The guy who can grit his teeth and come up with seven strong innings whenever the team needs it. They simply don't have it.

The Indians believe, and have most of their fans convinced, that C.C. Sabathia is that guy. He is the number one starter...A towering lefty with a powerful arm. On paper C.C. Sabathia should be the best pitcher in baseball. At 25 he is in his sixth year, he's 6'7" officially listed at 290 pounds and reportedly throws close to 100 miles an hour.

Too bad the games aren't played on paper. After making a strong debut in 2001 striking out 171 batters on the way to posting an impressive 17-5 record, C.C. responded by eating a shortstop in the off season. Fat and sloppy in 2002, he went 13-11 with a 4.37 ERA. Since then he has yet to hear the wake up call, proving to be an average performer who is susceptible to nagging injuries and prone to giving up runs in bunches. He has no poise, getting frustrated easily and exiting games early typically leaving lots of runners on the bases for relievers to contend with. Throughout his career he averages six innings per start, which is great for a number three starter but far from what one expects of an ace.

Rumor has it C.C. lost weight heading into the 2006 season and people associated with the team had high hopes, but in his first start the so-called ace got touched up for three runs in 2 1/3 innings before he strained an abdominal muscle and made yet another visit to the DL.

It's obvious that C.C. Sabathia is not the anchor the Indians need in their starting rotation. Aside from an impressive rookie season, C.C. has established himself as an average starting pitcher who occasionally delivers a sensational performance. Much like the old version of David Wells. One might argue that if C.C. weren't left-handed, he might have been unloaded a couple of seasons ago. With a 4.12 career ERA and only 2 shutouts pitched in six years, it's obvious that Sabathia does not have the talent or desire to be that number one starter.

Sadly, that's a component that the Cleveland Indians will need if they want to win it all. Their immediate concern should be a struggling bullpen, but they have talent in their farm system that should be able to plug the gaps nicely as the season progresses. In the long run, however, the glaring hole on Cleveland's roster is the number one starter. If the Indians don't address C.C. Sabathia's glaring deficiencies, they'll simply qualify for the post season so a better equipped team can treat them like a playoff doormat. You've got to have an ace. C.C. Sabathia is more like a nine.

Second guessers always win

Lebron James scared Cavaliers fans to death when he pulled up lame after driving the lane against the Detroit Pistons in a game that was not only out of hand but completely insignificant as the Cavs had wrapped up the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs. Naturally this led people to question Mike Brown's decision to put Lebron in harm's way with the playoffs looming and nothing to be gained from a victory and his detractors make a great point, but is it really a bad decision?

There are two lines of thinking late in the season. You can rest your starters and protect them from injury in meaningless games, thus ensuring they'll be rested and ready for the rigors of the post season. Many coaches take this approach and it's a very reasonable course of action. Especially when your team's success revolves around one or two players. The Cavaliers have no chance to win a title if Lebron James gets hurt. They have other important players on the team and losing any of their starters is bad news, but Lebron is the best player in the league. The team is built around him.

The other train of thought is that you don't want your starters getting cold. For every team that has lost a key player to an injury in an unnecessary game there are five teams who have lost in the playoffs because their star players didn't step up. The Chicago Bulls struggled in early playoff rounds and only managed to advance because Michael Jordan did not have the mentality that allowed him to get cold. Had Jordan displayed the same characteristics of Scottie Pippen one could argue that the Bulls dynasty might have consisted of one or two titles over eight years instead of six. Look at what happened to the Colts over the past two seasons in the NFL. Disapointing playoff performances followed several weeks worth of rest for the starting players.

Why do you suppose Wild Card Teams win in the NFL and Major League Baseball? We just watched the Pittsburgh Steelers claw their way through the AFC after fighting tooth and nail to get into the playoffs. The World Series has been dominated by teams who would not have made the post season 15 years ago. In spite of risking fatigue and injury it seems that the teams who have to play hard down the stretch manage to maintain a sharp mental edge through the playoffs. That translates into wins.

The numbers don't lie. With so much parity in professional sports right now, teams can't expect to walk through the first round of the playoffs and improve as they go. They have to step up with the "A" game from the very start and not let up. There are no more free rides.

Knowing this, Mike Brown's decision to keep Lebron in the game when victory seemed impossible isn't so bad. It makes even more sense when you consider the fact that Larry Hughes has been sidelined for most of the season and never had much of a chance to develop his game along side James. Brown could use the remaining regular season games to give Lebron and Larry a chance to get on the same page.

One good thing that came from the injury is the fact that the Cavaliers were forced to play the Knicks with Lebron in street clothes. While the Knicks aren't much of an opponent, the game gave Mike Brown a chance to work his reserves out. Larry Hughes also had a moment to shine, getting back his confidence and showing his teammates that they can count on him to lead the way if Lebron is struggling. It also sends a message to playoff opponents that containing Lebron might not be the best way to stop the Cavaliers.

While Mike Brown probably feels pressure to hold his starters back, he can't afford to let them get complacent. The Cavaliers are a solid competitor and have a legitimate shot at getting to the finals. Don't let the huge loss to the Pistons fool you. The Cavs have the players available to give the Pistons serious trouble, but they have to be hot. Sitting them out in the last few games could have negative repercussions later.

Bonds on Bonds? Classy

ESPN's turned into a monster. I didn't have a problem when they fired up a 73rd channel and I don't mind in depth coverage of the Junior World Curling Championships. Sports are great and frankly I find myself wanting more after five months of college basketball. Really. The Poker Championships are essential to my well-being and ESPN radio is the highlight of my day.

But this Barry Bonds quasi-reality show is going too far. I know ESPN's got to make money and Barry Bonds is the biggest draw in sport right now. Besides being at the center of a steroid scandal, he is on the verge of breaking long standing home run records. Somebody's going to do the show, so why not ESPN?

Well maybe because Bonds represents everything bad about sports. Even if you take away the steroids, he is a brooding, selfish, egocentric jerk. He's alienated teammates, fans and the press. He's not just bad for baseball, he's bad for sports in general. he might even be bad for America, bit I think that's a probable overstatement. If ESPN is going to offer Barry an soapbox to air his own personal pity party, they should follow up with an intensive investigation into the dark side of Bonds.

I don't buy the whining coming from ESPN reporters who see a conflict of interest. Let's be honest about journalism here and dispense with the pretense that the people who cover sports are really journalists. Sports is where the lines between news and entertainment have always been blurred and on the rare occasions sport writers have been asked to deal with real news, they've balked.

One only need look at the OJ Simpson case to appreciate how inept sports writers are when real news comes calling. Another fine example is how sports writers reacted when Congress started asking questions about steroids. Suddenly, sports writers weren't having fun anymore. The reason is because with real news comes real accountability. The job gets hard when libel becomes a reality.

There are some sports writers who actually take the time to do their jobs with journalistic integrity, but most get caught up into the hyperbole of sports and they lose their way. Most end up spouting their opinions rather than fact. They get nationally syndicated radio shows and preach from their ivory towers. So let's stop with this talk of the true nature of journalism and the conflict of interest that might exist if ESPN is paying Barry Bonds for his reality show.

Nevertheless, I think this is a lousy decision by ESPN. Not because they specialize in sports news, but because ESPN should have a vested interest in promoting the right things about sports. ESPN should avoid those issues that can tear sports apart. Barry Bonds has been subjecting the public to his own version of reality for 20 years. We don't need more BS from Barry.

In the first installment of the show Barry broke down and cried about how he doesn't care about the negativity because people have been trying to hurt him and his family all along. BULL! Barry has hurt himself. Barry has hurt his family. It wasn't the media who cheated on your wife, you did, Barry. The press didn't stick steroid needles in your butt, you did. Nobody asked you to hide behind your son at a press conference when your name came up in the BALCO case, you did that on your own.

Barry's whole tumultuous relationship with the press comes from his massive ego. His dad was a famous player who made lots of money so Barry got treated differently all his life. He entered the league with a massive chip on his shoulder and it grew almost as rapidly as that swollen head bobbling around on what used to be a neck. Steroids.

ESPN should have put the screws to Barry on this one. If Barry wants his show to air, then he should answer some direct questions about his steroid use. He talks about how he loves baseball, but yet he is the one who is tearing it apart with his illegal use of performance enhancing drugs. Does he love baseball or is it more likely that he loves himself?

History proves that Barry loves Barry. How many titles has Barry won? Zero. Is that his fault? Absolutely. Barry's the one who has a history of lackluster late season performances and he is the one who ran off the talented players who could have helped him win a title in recent years. Even though former teammates have been reluctant to tear into Barry, the fact that few of his former mates speak highly of him is telling. If you can't say something nice...Barry is a jerk on and off the field.

There's no question he is talented. Even without steroids, Barry was on track with greatness. Unfortunately he let his ego get between him and the game. He didn't want to miss out on setting records so he got on the juice. That's the reality ESPN should be reporting, not some fantasy world where Bond's is a misunderstood hero with a sensitive side.

Packers owe Favre

The Brett Favre saga is getting tiresome. Should he stay or should he go? Does he owe the Packers a decision before the draft? Is he hurting the team?

The fact is Favre has given the Packers more than they have given him. He restored that team to glory and has been the embodiment of everything good about football. He's a throwback player who Vince Lombardi would have adored. No, he's not the greatest quarterback to play the game, but he's one of the best pure football players to ever take the field.

The Packers are being the bad guys here. They don't want Favre to come back. They know he's still got a solid season or two in him, but it's going to take them a season or two beyond that to become competitive again. They need to move on, but they don't want to alienate fans by telling Favre that he no longer fits into their plan.

Favre, on the other hand, wants to play. That's why he hasn't officially retired. The reason he appears ambivalent is because he knows that the Packers aren't going to be competitive and he doesn't want his last season or two to be spent playing for a 7-9 team. Favre wants one more crack at winning it all. He wants to get to one more Super Bowl so he can atone for a subpar performance against the Broncos a nearly decade ago.

Favre doesn't want to demand a release. That would offend the fans and possibly hurt people in the organization. Favre doesn't want to have to explain that he is giving up on the Packers. And he shouldn't have to. They have given up on him by failing to surround Brett with the kind of players who can win a title. The team has become mediocre and Favre is tired. Tired of getting knocked around. Tired of players dropping passes. Tired of losing. The Packers know Favre wants out. They also know he won't demand his release, so they are playing chicken with him. They want him to quit. It's a low class move.

The Packers owe Favre more. They owe their fans more. The best course of action to take is to let Favre know that his services will always be appreciated but that the team has to build for the future and it's not in anybody's best interest if Favre stays. Wish the man well, and let him know that whatever he does he will always be a Packer. Retire his number, build a statue and send him on his merry way with your blessings. It would be highly appropriate to advise him to play for a legitimate contender and encourage Packers fans to cheer Brett on as he pursues the glory that the Packers simply aren't ready to attain. Take the high road. There's no shame in letting your favorite son go off on his own to seek that one last date with destiny. Forcing him to stay put or retire is selfish.

Sadly, this only demonstrates that the Packers, in spite of being publicly owned and operated, are no better than the other teams out there. It's all about the marketing. Instead of doing the right thing and showing a little integrity, they are putting all of the pressure on the shoulders of the one player who has done so much for them. Favre has never missed a game, he's played through physical and emotional pain. Favre has stepped up and taken so many hits for the Packers...It's time that the Packers stepped up and take a hit for him.

Cinderella Stories will become the norm...

George Mason has stormed into the Final Four, capturing the imaginations of sports fans all over the country. Upsets happen every year, a double digit seed always sneaks into the Sweet Sixteen and sometimes teases us by advancing into that Elite Eight, but reality always brings us back down to Earth and the Final Four rarely entertains the team wearing the Cinderella slipper.

George Mason clawed through stiff competition, breaking through to the Final Four by beating a top seeded Connecticut team that was favored to win the whole tournament. Every team George Mason faced was ranked higher than they were but they won each game convincingly. They didn't sneak past sleep-walking giants to get to Indy, they played solid basketball and exploited each foes weaknesses with expert precision. They even suffered a let down against UConn when they allowed the Huskies to tie the game, but instead of folding under the pressure they stood tall and won a game most teams would have lost in the overtime period.

Some experts are taking a little bit away from George Mason by pointing out the fact that this tournament field was exceptionally young and rather inexperienced. The teams weren't very deep and the mid majors had a better chance to dominate this year because the rest of the NCAA has been decimated by the early entries the NBA has whisked away. These analysts think that George Mason's miraculous run is a fluke.

There's something to that argument. Gone are the days that Duke, UConn and North Carolina will start the same five players two or three years in a row. Players are going to leave early. The fact that the NBA is so hungry for young talent will actually encourage more players to sign with the mid-majors in hopes of getting more playing time. The NBA is requiring all players to wait a year after high school before being eligible for the draft so the NCAA won't be losing marquee talent right out of high school, but those top notch players aren't going to be enamored by the legacy of the traditional powers. They'll look for schools that are promising immediate playing time. Many of those players will probably stay close to home.

It's no fluke. The playing field is leveled and the mid majors hold the advantage because they are used to having to play by the players' rules. They've had to make exceptions and change plans in midstream. It's the Duke's and North Carolina's of the world who will struggle. Talent is already diluted, there's not that much separating the teams anymore. The best players in the game get snatched up by the NBA leaving teams trying to rebuild. The advantage goes to the teams that recruit players who need to develop or the teams who embrace the one and done star. As the big teams struggle to adjust to a recruiting climate that has players looking at college as a one year delay in their quest for glory, guys like Coach K aren't going to capitulate and the top players will opt to play for a program that embraces their presence for one season.

The selection committee will still give credit to the old guard and the traditional powers will remain in top seeds, but upsets will become the norm. A number 1 seed doesn't mean what it used to. The fact that there are no number 1 seeds remaining in this year's tournament speaks volumes as to how the shift in power has already begun.

Some see it as an aberration. They claim that this is a down year and that the power conferences and traditional contenders will hold sway for years to come. That's not true. The fact is, this is the tip of the iceberg and the big name programs will see themselves frozen out of the tournament more and more each year.

Best and Worst of NFL Signings already in.

Even though there are still deals to be made, the best and worst moves of the NFL off season are already behind us. Unless the San Diego Charges trade all their picks to draft Reggie Bush, it's unlikely any horrendous decisions will be made in the draft. Free Agency is a bigger deal. The players on the market are proven and there is a standard against which their value can be measured.

The Free Agent market is more entertaining because it's you can predict which teams are going to make a splash with their acquisitions. The draft is a huge crap shoot. Nobody knows which rookie is going to rise to the challenge of being an impact player. There are no unexpected holdouts. Free agents know their market value and they sign with the teams of their choosing.

There's still some activity pending, but we are confident in our projections and feel comfortable in declaring the winners and losers.

Best Team Improvement: Browns

This year the Cleveland Browns were aggressive, bringing in LeCharles Bentley to fortify a much improved line will bolster a surprisingly effective running game and open up the passing game for Charlie Frye. Joe Jurevicius is coming home after a strong performance last year and should be able to hold the fort down while Braylon Edwards recovers from a knee injury. Defensively the acquisition of Willie McGinest will stabilize that transition to the New England-inspired 3-4 Romeo Crennel wants to install. Ted Washington will be a big plus as well. The Browns might contend for the AFC North title thanks in part to the Steelers losing a playmaker in Randle El and the Bengals starting the season with their QB struggling with a bum knee.


Worst: Patriots

Of course that brings us to the worst performance by a team. Early indications point to New England. Sure, people have been counting New England out for years, but this off season looks bad. Rumor has it that the Patriots are looking to clear enough cap room to bring in Lavar Arrington which is a departure from the M.O. previously employed to win as a team. Lavar will command big bucks and bring in a big ego. Not only are the patriots bleeding talent, they might be losing chemistry.

Best Individual Move: TIE Saints and Dolphins
Some people are excited about Edgerrin James heading to Arizona. Big Deal. Edge wasn't nearly as critical to the Colts as people like to think. That team enjoys regular season success because they have a great line and a wicked passing attack. As long as they can find a back that can run routes and catch passes they'll be fine. The Cardinals, however, won't be. Do they really think that Kurt Warner still has what it takes? And what does it matter with that line? The Cardinals are going to learn a tough lesson once the season opens. Never spend big money on a running back, unless you have a great line to block for him.

The Saints made a wise choice in acquiring the services of Drew Brees. Quarterback was a big problem for the Saints last year and Brees has proven his mettle. However, the departure of LeCharles Bentley will not help the Saints improve their offense. The Saints will have to find some blocking in the free agent market or hope to score a quality lineman in the draft. By picking up Brees they acquire some flexibility in trading that draft pick, but losing a solid blocker in Bentley is not going to be good for the team in the immediate future.

The Dolphins needed a good Quarterback. They have solid performers throughout their offense but the liability since Marino retired has been the dead heads they've tried to pawn off as NFL starters. Culpepper is a great acquisition and a steal for a second round pick. I don't know when the world decided Dante Culpepper was washed up, but before last season Culpepper was MVP material. He's big, strong, tough and throws well. He's not without flaws, but even the mighty Peyton Manning has a hole or two in his game. Culpepper's season was cut short by a gruesome knee injury, but the surgery supposedly went well and Dante will be 100% by the time the Dolphins take the field. With New England and Buffalo looking really confused this off season and the Jets being the Jets, Miami could win the AFC East going away. They'll lose in the playoffs, but they'll look like Superbowl contenders all year long.

Worst Individual Move: Chargers

It's got to be the Chargers. In fact, the Charges are a case study in stupid personnel decisions and this years blunder was three years in the making. Drew Brees is a good quarterback and has proven his value in two consecutive seasons. Completing 65% of his passes for almost 7,000 yards and more than 50 touchdowns in 31 games. The kid ripped up his shoulder in the last game of the season...a game he shouldn't have been in, no less...and the Chargers decided to let him walk.

The comedy of errors started when they jumped the gun and drafted Eli Manning, who they knew was not going to sign anyway, and trade him for Phillip Rivers. Brees came on strong, left Rivers on the bench and now everybody wonders if the guy can play. Brees proved he was at least better than Rivers simply by virtue of relegating the former NC State star to the bench for two years.

The Chargers didn't do themselves any favors by breaking the bank on two quarterbacks for two seasons. Everybody knew one of them had to go so the Chargers weren't going to get a lot of trade value, but letting the one who proved his worth on the field walk away with nothing in return was foolish. How do you let a pro-bowl QB slip away and not even get a fourth round pick for him? That's not even stupid, it's insane. The NFL should sue the Chargers management for negligence.


The Cowboys have to get a dishonorable mention for bringing in T.O. Drew Bledsoe simply doesn't have thick enough skin to put up with T.O.'s antics over the cpourse of a season and Parcel's unwavering authority might not impress the egomaniacal Owens. There's no disputing the talent the guy brings, and from that perspective he is an upgrade over Keyshwan Johnson, but it's a sad state of affairs when the guy you're replacing Keyshawn with brings more baggage. Vegas isn't taking bets on the Cowboys getting to the Superbowl, they're setting odds on when T.O. implodes. I'm taking week 9.

Look for some new faces at the top of the divisions this year. The Browns and Dolphins could be the rags to riches stories in the AFC and the Redskins might end up being the class of the NFC. Some teams will need to make a little headway in the draft, but it's been a busy off season and the balance of power will be swinging.

Method to the Madness

The NCAA Tournament selection committee revealed the pairings for the Championship Tournament that begins with the opening rounds today. But just because the games begin, don't count on the whining to subside. Especially when those teams believed to have received special consideration fall. See, Maryland would have won.

No, they would not have. Here's the thing, people: 64 teams get a ticket to the Big Dance. A number of those bid are automatic meaning that the selection committee has no power over the teams who either win their regular season title, or storm through their respective conference tournaments to win a championship. That's how teams with losing records can actually sneak in.

If you fail to qualify for an automatic bid, the selection committee is going to split hairs and scrutinize the rest of the at large hopefuls. In most cases it's a no brainer. The better a team's national ranking, the more likely it is they'll get in, but the selection committee reviews strength of schedule, power rankings and late season performance. It's possible that the occasional top 20 team who didn't lock up the automatic bid could get snubbed. Even in those rare cases it's hard to feel sorry for the teams on the outside looking in.

Fans are expected to make mountains out of molehills. That's what fans do. They see injustice in every thing that doesn't reflect their opinion that the team they root for is the best. But analysts and coaches should know better. When you have something as hideous as the BCS using a twisted combination of computers and people to select the top two teams in the country next door in football, the NCAA Basketball Tournament should seem like a beacon of unbiased hope.

The problem is the fact that too many of these analysts are former college players and/or coaches who hold strong loyalties to the conferences they were associated with. Sports networks want to improve their perceived credibility by hiring people who actually played the game as though these idiots actually have insight that enhances our appreciation of the game.

The reality is that these ex-jocks and coaches often provide insight into the painfully obvious and present uninspiring information as though it's some sort of an inside secret. When you convert points off of turnovers it puts the pressure on your opponent. Really? Wow. I did not know that. Hey, you know what else puts pressure on your opponent? Stupid analysts who won't stop blathering about the painfully obvious. Jeez, next you'll tell me that the team with more points at the end of the game will be the winner. Is the ball round? Does it bounce, too?

Sadly, these washed up jocks steal career opportunities from qualified mass media students who try to combine their love of sports with an education in broadcasting. They study and practice and work long hours at unpaid internships so they can one day graduate from college and become a hot dog vendor at their local arena because some big dumb athlete blew out his knee and had to get a real job. It's not fair but we can tolerate it as long as these idiots at least pretend to be professional. Crying foul over a two or three debatable selections in a 64 team field is not professional.

The Tournament is great. It's so big and comprehensive that you can't diminish it by whimpering over one or two teams. It's like criticizing a sunset because of a few thin clouds. Over the next few weeks the field of 64 will be whittled down to the Final Four and beyond that a true national champion will emerge. There will be upsets. Big upsets. There always are.

Regular season performance doesn't matter. Anybody can win. Goliath can stumble and David can get on a hot streak. There's no margin for error, no getting back on track after a tough loss. If you don't bring the "A" game every day, you will "B" going home. That's why the fans love it. Every game is game seven.

Some coaches try to downplay the tournament because of that upset factor. It's just one game, they say. Sure. If UConn plays Albany 100 times UConn will win 99 of those games, but that one shot is what makes the Tournament so special. You don't have any margin for error. Win or go home. To me, that's a bigger challenge than winning a regular season title. It's a lot easier to win 25-30 games over the course of a season than it is to win six straight games against top ranked opponents in the national spotlight.

Some say that this makes the tournament a novelty act. The regular season is a grueling test of which team is the best. The tournament is a reward in itself. It's an exhibition for the fans, but it's not the fans I see exalting in their glory when the final horn sounds. It's not the fans I see gleefully cutting down the nets. No. The tournament is the season. Coaches, players and the NCAA want the regular season to matter, but for most fans the regular season is just practice for the Big Dance in March.

Steroids, Strife and Schtick

Steroids

I can't find one good reason to get behind Barry Bonds. It's obvious this joker has been loading steroids the way John Goodman hammers cheeseburgers and the fact that this spoiled baseball brat has been a certified jackass from day one makes it easy to laugh as the stuff hitting the fan splatters all over him. I only wish that Barry was white so he couldn't hide behind being black when the critics come calling. Of course he's already proven that he'll hide behind his kids so I guess it wouldn't matter.

But the issue of steroids is rampant. It goes beyond Barry Bonds and Mark McGwire. Sure, the records they set should be wiped clean from the record books but then again everything that happened in baseball since 1988 should be treated like toxic waste. That includes Rickey Henderson's stolen base record and Cal Ripken Jr.'s consecutive game streak.

I'm not throwing those accomplishments under the bus to prove a point, I really believe that everybody in baseball over the past 15 years is guilty until proven innocent. I know that's harsh and defies the logic of our criminal justice system, but I'm not talking about a criminal trial. This is the court of public opinion and it is the players who, through their union, refused to submit to a meaningful drug testing procedure. You reap what you sow.

I know that it's hard to imagine golden boy Cal taking steroids, but didn't everybody dismiss Jose Canseco's claim that he introduced Rafael Palmeiro to steroids? Not Raffi! Then a few months after wagging his finger at Congress and calling Jose Canseco a liar on national television, Palmeiro tested positive for steroids. He still claims he didn't do it, but nobody believes him.

So why not Cal? He sure managed to stay in shape didn't he? Does that mean everybody who stays fit is a cheater? No. But if you're a professional athlete making millions of dollars you need to pee in a cup and prove that you're legit. Last time I checked Cal didn't pee in any cups. At least not for any drug test. And it's pretty obvious that a few of the guys Cal played with took steroids. Remember how Brady Anderson suddenly packed on 20 pounds of solid muscle and blasted 50 home runs out of the lead off spot? No doubt about the pharmaceutical assistance he got there.

But will peeing in the cup cut it? Bonds and Jason Giambi were taking designer steroids that can't be detected through current testing procedures and many other drugs the players have access to won't show up. The test used by Major League Baseball is a sham. Instead of taking a cue from the International Olympic Committee and selecting a test that accounts for modern advancements in hormonal supplementation, MLB went with the minimum acceptable standard. They don't want to solve the problem at all, they want to appear to be concerned.

Baseball isn't alone. The NFL has a testing policy that former players have called a joke. One doesn't need to look very far to find the freakish physical attributes that tell the tale of steroid use. Somehow wide receivers and defensive backs who weighed under 200 pounds in college manage to become quicker and faster after they bulk up to 220 pounds in the NFL. And you have to be suspicious of the speed and quickness the 250 pound linebackers in the league are capable of. Sure, an intense training regimen can do great things, but you have to be naive if you think that steroids are the exception rather than the rule.

The NBA has seen players get bigger and stronger over the years as well. Fans don't clamor for testing in the NBA because fans don't really clamor for the NBA. A limited fan base provides the NBA and it's cellar-dwelling cousin the NHL a lot of latitude in the drug testing department. Fans seem more concerned that NBA players might smoke marijuana and that Hockey players might wear mullets. And in all honesty, mullets are a menace.

If any sports league was really serious about drug testing, they would happily outsource the entire process to a third party agency that has no interest in the outcome of the tests. As it stands right now. None of the sports leagues want to see their best and most popular players endure the long term humiliation of a positive test. The fact is the leagues don't want testing. It's too much of a hassle. They struggle with enough image issues without having marquee players being suspended regularly for violating the substance abuse policy.

And fans don't want it either. We like to make a stink about fair play integrity and, of course, the children, the poor innocent children who look up to these athletes for guidance and inspiration in ever walk of life, but at the end of the day we want eye-popping highlights. Until everybody takes the issue seriously the leagues will only go through the motions. In short talk is cheap.

Strife

The NFL has slowly but surely turned itself into one of the most successful live action entertainment ventures in the history of the modern world. Billions and Billions of dollars change hands in the name of the NFL. Rival professional leagues have come and gone, failing to make a dent in the popularity the NFL enjoys.

The only thing that comes close is college football and that's only because the NCAA doesn't have to pay those future NFL stars who are basically indentured to the farm system for three years before they can get paid for their efforts. If the NCAA ever had to pay those kids, or the NFL decided to stop making it so easy for the NCAA to hold them hostage college football would really be about student athletes and the big time be lucky to see 100, 000 fans over the course of a season.

The NFL has a stranglehold on payroll. While their counterparts in other leagues sign massive guaranteed contracts for a hundred million dollars, NFL players don't have the leverage to secure big salaries or long term security. With the league minimum salary well into the six figure range it's hard to feel sympathy for the players as they struggle through unguaranteed contracts and hard salary caps, but you still can't fault the players for taking an opportunity to push the NFL for more money as the Collective Bargaining Agreement expires. The NFL has enjoyed massive revenues and the players are entitled to take what is theirs.

You see, the NFL controls everything related to the game of professional football. In the NBA Lebron James can squeeze Nike for 50 million a year because he's allowed to wear Nike shoes on the court. The NFL controls the apparel agreements so even if a player is popular enough to secure an endorsement deal, he can't get the money an NBA player clears because the NFL will determine which shoes he wears during a game. Even if player does wear a brand not licensed by the NFL, he has to cover the shoe with tape. This is a bone of contention with the players. Not only are they getting short changed on their salaries, they are limited in earning money off the field as well.

But that's only part of the problem with this labor agreement. The players want more money than the owners would like to part with. What else is new? However, the owners are quibbling amongst themselves over the revenue sharing provisions. The NFL controls general revenues and the teams share in that revenue equally. Television contracts, endorsement deals, and licensing agreements are all arranged by the league office and the revenue is divided evenly among the teams. Even the revenue generated by ticket sales is shared among the league to a large degree. And that's fair.

One thing that isn't shared are local revenues. Some teams are very popular in their particular area and they are able to secure local revenue deals with area businesses. The sources of the revenue can be tied to stadium concessions, luxury suite sales, parking and other game related items. Another popular revenue source is naming rights. Then you have various advertisements that can be placed throughout the stadium. Owners of smaller market teams want to share the local revenue while the owners of the larger market teams are logically opposed to it.

Small market owners believe the revenue sharing would help the league by allowing small market teams to be more competitive, large market owners believe that this would reduce incentive to generate local revenues. They don't want to share their money. Who does?

Obviously both sides can make a great case, but the point nobody seems to be making is so simple: If the NFL won't impose a local revenue sharing plan, then the NFL should not be able to prevent teams from moving. While some teams have made controversial moves, the NFL strictly regulates this activity and many proposed moves have been nixed by the league. Reasons have included the size of a particular market, the fan base and the proximity of the desired market to another team. When Art Modell repackaged the Browns as the Ravens and moved to Baltimore the Redskins filed a grievance with the NFL because they felt Baltimore was part of their market. Obviously the NFL disagreed but not until they tendered a cash settlement to the Redskins.

So if the large market owners don't want to share local revenues, that's fine. But then the league can't block moves. So Zygi Wilf can pack up the Vikings and open up shop in Hartford; Bill Bidwill can hop a Greyhound and base the Cardinals in Fort Worth. How would that affect those local revenues? Stop the whining and close the deal.


Schtick

The World Baseball Classic has to be the biggest sham since they tried to make the All Star game count by putting home field advantage for the World Series at stake. Ho Hum. I'm not even paying attention. Spring training just started which means the players are just now getting into shape. Pitchers aren't ready to throw 200 pitches a game and sluggers haven't shaken off the rust enough to hit a hanging curve ball out of the infield yet. So why should anybody care about the WBC?

I like baseball and I follow it throughout the season, but I don't even get invested into the action until after the All Star break. It's not even interesting until then. They play 162 regular season games but it's only the last 62 of them that really matter and that's a stretch. The casual fan can tune into the action in the last week of the regular season and enjoy baseball as much as the junkie who's been keeping box scores since April 2nd. So tell me again why this WBC matters?
Don't give me national pride. Please. Do you really want to pin your national pride to a bunch of guys trying to shake off 15 pounds of winter flab?

If you want this to matter, extend the All Star break and play it in the middle of the season. Scrap the non-baseball dog and pony show that is the home run derby, do away with the lame excuse for a game that the All Star game has become and play a few double headers over a five day period, give the players a couple of days off on the back end and call it a Classic. Don't hand me some repackaged version of the Grapefruit league and tell me it's exciting. I know better.


Sadly, these three issues have taken center stage in the sports world right before the NCAA announces it's tournament pairings. That's too bad. This is the time of the year we are supposed to suffer from March Madness and we're more worried about this garbage. Here's hoping we come to our senses next week.

Booing Lebron establishes Cleveland among the league leaders in low class fans.

I love Lebron James. It's beyond a sport-oriented man crush. I absolutely adore the guy. His tremendous ability on the basketball court is unparalleled but it's nothing compared to the attitude he exudes on and off the court. Lebron is everything you want a professional athlete to be. He's perfect.

Sure, you can nitpick your way into a small list of faults. You can crunch numbers and cite stats that reveal he is not exactly the kind of guy who you can count on to win games with a heroic last second shot. But most of those players we celebrate as clutch shooters missed more game winners than they made. Lebron simply hasn't been in position to win the big game with one shot. Yet. You can make the argument that his defense leaves something to be desired but when you look at the big picture you'd be an idiot if you didn't want this guy on your team. He's always flirting with a triple double and capable of scoring 30 points in a quarter. He can take the ball strong to the hole or drill a deep three pointer with a hand in his face and he sure seems to come up with the timely steal. Maybe he's not a lock down defender, but if Lebron plays too aggressively on defense he might risk foul trouble which would hurt his ability to take the game over on offense.

He is better after three years in the league than any other player before him was after three years in the league. At 21 he is setting performance standards that will not be matched in future years. But all of that is just window dressing. What really sets Lebron apart from professional athletes around the world is his attitude. He makes 40 year-old men look like petulant cry-babies.

After being heralded as the chosen one from his early high school days, one would expect Lebron to carry much baggage. You'd figure he would be a slave to his friends and his family, acting childish because nobody ever held him accountable for being a man. We see it in professional athletes who are much older and expect it in talented athletes that are Lebron's age.

But Lebron brings none of that. His nickname is an inside joke. Lebron doesn't act like somebody who has been called the King all his life, his manner is stately but certainly not regal. He is humble but doesn't exude false modesty. He is gracious, but not to the point where you feel he is putting up a front. Lebron is just a genuinely nice guy who happens to be one of the most remarkable athletes in professional sports. He's not soft, but he certainly doesn't have that bitter edge that makes it so easy to hate a player.

Unlike his peers, Lebron doesn't need to be the MVP every night. Lebron happily passes the ball to his teammates and truly enjoys seeing his team perform well. Most guys in Lebron's position will sacrifice team success for their own statistical performance, but Lebron is all about wins. He's doesn't just talk the talk, he walks the walk.

Lebron doesn't even get caught up in pursuing the elusive triple double. He doesn't force himself into the lane to steal rebounds from his teammates and doesn't get angry at those who fail to convert his crisp passing to immediate points. He loves to rack up the assists, but far be it from him to criticize a teammate for getting the ball a little closer to the rim for a better shot.

Lebron gets mad when he sees a lackluster effort. He takes responsibility for the team's failures but on the floor you can see Lebron trying to motivate his teammates to play better. He doesn't throw petty tantrums but he offers a solid mix of criticism and encouragement to help his coach get guys on the same page. He never uses the media to attack his teammates nor does he go out of his way to promote himself. He's also respectful of his opponents in both wins and losses. Instead of King, maybe we should call him Saint James.

You can run down a list of players present and past and not find a guy that brought a better balance of ability, work ethic, confidence and humility. Lebron is a natural born leader who understands that the best leaders not only do it through example, but they also know when to shut up and be led. The kid follows instructions and shows others the respect they deserve.

It's easy to lose sight of how special this is. Lebron is flashy but he doesn't show off. So many great players before him went to great lengths to market themselves through word and deed. Lebron seems content to let it come to him. Magic Johnson and Larry Bird ruffled feathers along the way. Michael Jordan took a long time to mature into a winner and even then had a tendency to rub teammates and coaches the wrong way. Lebron has all of the ability his predecessors possessed but he demonstrates none of the negative traits that made them human. As I already assessed: perfect.

It's a perfect story too. Lebron's a hometown hero. Let's face it. Akron is part of Cleveland even though most Rubber-heads will claim independence. Cleveland, Akron and Canton are all part of the same metropolis. You can't script it any better. The Cavaliers were terrible for years before Lebron arrived on the scene. For a brief spell in the early 1990's they looked like they might have some potential, but then they made dreadful personnel decisions and the team was an embarrassment to the entire institution of basketball. Lebron's rise to glory in high school gave everybody hope that Cleveland's salvation was developing his game just a few minutes south in Akron. When that number one pick fell into Cleveland's desperate clutches after Lebron had just finished his senior year, everybody knew that Lebron was staying put.

Nobody expected him to live up to the massive expectations placed on his shoulders. He was just a boy when he made his NBA debut and most experts figured he'd be lucky to average double digits in his first season. It would take at least two years for the kid to adjust to the bigger stronger and faster game played in the NBA. Look at Kobe. The real question wasn't whether or not Lebron would meet the ridiculous expectations, but how he would handle the pressure. There was a distinct possibility that he would implode and take three or four years just to get on track.

It didn't happen. Lebron exploded onto the scene putting up averages in points, assists and rebounds that rivaled the best players in the league. He quickly drew comparisons to Oscar Robertson and Magic Johnson. His game had a few weaknesses but he started his NBA career at a level most analysts didn't expect him to attain for two or three seasons. He improved in his second season and got even better in his third. At 21 he has established himself as the best all around player in the league and he has the Cavaliers in position to not only make the playoffs but advance deep into them.

So when Lebron got off track in a recent game against the Wizards you'd have expected Cleveland fans to cut the kid some slack. He just came off an MVP performance in the All Star game and had been of fire in his previous starts. You'd have to expect a bit of a lull and getting it out of the way right after the break was better than running out of gas down the stretch. It's a long season and you can't expect a lights out performance every night.

But the clowns in Cleveland didn't see it that way. When Lebron struggled to find his stroke the fans booed. They gave Lebron the business. You'd have thought the Cavaliers just announced that Shawn Kemp was checking into the game. Lebron's performance was bad, but isn't he entitled to a poor showing once in a while? He plays 44 minutes a night and is bound to run out of gas once in a while. Right? Besides, he still turned out a near triple double performance. If anybody was to blame it might be the rest of the team.

There are those who will say that fans have a right to boo. They pay good money to sit in the arena and how they express themselves is their choice. Besides, Lebron is making big bucks and should be mature enough to handle it. Especially when he's struggling. If he's too soft to take it he should have gone to college.

That's one way to look at it. Fans have the right to boo. They also have the right to eat urinal cakes and wear underpants on their heads. For that matter there's no law against walking up to a cop and saying "oink" but that doesn't mean it's a good idea. There's a big difference between being right and having a right. Booing Lebron isn't right.

Cleveland fans would do well to remember that Lebron is approaching the end of his rookie contract. The Cavaliers will likely offer him the maximum deal, but that doesn't mean Lebron has to take it. If Cleveland fans want to exercise their right to boo, Lebron might exercise his right to bolt and go out of his way to punish Cleveland fans whenever he comes back to town. How loud would the boos be if Lebron signed a deal with Chicago just so he could have several annual opportunities to hang 50 points on his former club?

Cleveland's my home town but I'm not stupid. It's a hell hole. It's a decaying old industrial city populated with stupid people who don't bathe regularly. Many of them are my relatives. The only redeeming aspect of playing professional sports in a town like Cleveland is that the fans are supposed to be loyal...not only to their teams, but to the players who represent them. For years Cleveland has worshipped mediocre athletes because they were "our guys" and showed the city a little loyalty. We loved athletes who had a blue collar mentality over the arrogant jerks who played for other teams. Sure, Joe Montana might have been a better quarterback on paper, but everybody in Cleveland knew that Bernie Kosar had intangibles. If Bernie had been throwing the ball to Jerry Rice the Browns would have won 10 Superbowls. Right? You betcha. Best NBA point guard of all time? Mark Price. End of story. John who? Magic what? Get out of here. Finally Cleveland has a bona fide superstar who wants to bring his hometown a long overdue championship and fans are booing him for struggling in one game that won't matter at the end of the season. That's simply not how it's supposed to be.

So why stay? If fans are already turning on Lebron, why should he stick around? We all know that his endorsement deals automatically sweeten if he ends up playing for a big market team, and he'll get more media exposure in LA, Chicago or New York. What does Cleveland have? The Rock-n-Roll Hall of Fame? Big Deal. It's not like they have induction ceremonies there. What else? Rust? Oh yeah, Cleveland rocks. Lebron's got to stay.

Cleveland's not alone when it comes to stupid fans. Columbus is home to some of the most ruthless college sports fans in the country and Cincinnati is a festering pocket of mean-spirited rednecks. Philadelphia is a pit of irrational hatred and New York fans are among the most arrogant jerks in the world. Southern California has terrible fans who don't pay attention to their teams unless they're winning and Chicago is overrated. What happened to all those Bulls' fans? Where did all the White Sox fans come from? Around the world sports fans are getting more and more impatient. Whether it's because the athletes are getting paid so much money or because the tickets are too expensive, fans are just being rude. But Cleveland used to be special and that made it a great sports town. It seems those days are gone. Maybe Lebron will be too.

USA Hockey reveals truth about All-Stars

For years Americans lamented the tremendous disadvantage we faced in the Olympics when it came to team sports. In hockey and basketball there was little argument that the best athletes in the world were native to the good old USA, but Olympic rules regarding professional athletes prohibited the USA and Canada from sending their best to the games to compete.

Of course the problem was the Soviet Union. The Soviets put together powerful teams filled with grizzled veterans who had no choice but to play for the national team. In the States where people are free to make their own choices, the best players typically signed professional contracts and left the national team scrambling to find new players every year. In spite of the fact that the players representing the US were just children, we still found ourselves on the podium almost every Olympiad.

In basketball the US has enjoyed dominance, missing out on winning gold only four times in 16 Olympics. One of those was 1980 when the US opted to boycott the Moscow games and in 1972 there was reason to believe that the game was rigged to favor the Soviets. 1988 was the straw that broke the camel's back, with the US taking home a bronze after getting handled by the Soviets in the semi-finals. Over the next few years the US Olympic Committee lobbied to include professional athletes in the games because of the unfair advantage enjoyed by the Soviets. The International Olympic Committee relented, realizing the money that could be made off of the so-called Dream Team the US would assemble. 1992 was unforgettable. Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, and Michael Jordan rounded out a team that included some of the best basketball players to ever play the game. It was bigger and better than an All-Star team. It was like the Basketball Hall of Fame put a team together. You couldn't have improved that team if you had a time machine.

After 1992 it went down hill. Fast. The novelty wore off and egos started to get in the way. Internationally teams simply got better and some of the biggest stars in the NBA were now coming from Europe. By 2004 the wheels came off and Team USA struggled to attract the best players. While that team featured Lebron James and Tim Duncan, there was no team unity and zero leadership. The 2004 team took home the Bronze medal after losing three games. That was more losses than USA Basketball had endured in the all of the previous games combined. From 1936 to 2004 the US lost two games in Olympic competition. TWO! Then in 2004 we dropped three? One of them was to Puerto Rico. At least the other teams that beat us actually had NBA players on their rosters. It was an embarrassment.

Hockey was slightly different. The US didn't dominate Hockey the way it did basketball, but the same situation was an issue in hockey. The US and Canada sent boys into the Olympics to take on the men assembled by the Soviet Union and other communist countries. Many of those teams were comprised of players who would later defect and become stand out player in the NHL. Since the US and Canada couldn't force players to remain in the amateur ranks this put those teams at a decided disadvantage.

That's what made the 1980 Olympics so special. The US hadn't sniffed a gold medal in hockey since 1960 and the Soviet Union was a dominant force. A team that crushed the NHL All-Stars when the NHL All-Stars really wanted to win. The Olympics Games was such a source of nationalistic pride that the Soviet Union invested heavily into dominating the games. Young athletes were harvested and sent to camps where their skills would be developed through strict programs. It was like SEAL training for jocks. There was no school, no social life, no family obligations. All practice all the time. There is even speculation that the Soviet Union used its power to import children from other communist countries in order to fortify their own programs.

Everybody around the world knew what was going on. Even though the US was a superpower and always enjoyed a strong showing at the games, the Soviets were the juggernaut and the US was the underdog. The entire world was on our side because we represented what was good and pure about sports while the Soviets were the imperial power that bullied everybody. It was great. Yes, the Soviets typically won more than their share of medals, but that made every victory gained by the US that much more rewarding.

After the 1988 games, US fans were fed up. They were tired of watching our boys get pushed around by grown men. By this time Canada was singing the same tune with regard to its hockey team and pressure from media outlets such as NBC, who saw the tremendous financial benefits of professional athletes playing on the international stage forced the Olympic Committee to make changes. Money, money, money.

Had it not been for the Soviet union collapsing, it might still be a good idea. Before the Cold War ended the rivalry between the US and the USSR was heated and professional athletes bought into it. Now that the evil empire is gone and our foes are less tangible, it's hard for professional athletes to get worked up over a gold medal. When the Soviets were there it was a challenge, now it's an exhibition. By the time an athlete gets to the professional level they have more trophies and medals than they know what to do with so taking time out to play in the Olympics is more of a chore than it is an honor.

Now we still assemble our all-star teams, but they don't represent the US with any sense of pride. They go over begrudgingly and complain about the accommodations, the weather and the fact that they're away from home. They simply don't want to be there, but they might be able to exploit a marketing angle so they play along.

In Hockey, the problem is that the rest of the world loves the game more than we do. They simply put out better players. Some of the biggest stars in the NHL are from other countries. Even in Canada, the heart and soul of hockey, there is a struggle to find the best players in the world.

Additionally, the fact that the US and Canada send teams that are entirely composed of NHL players as opposed to rounding out a national team with a few ringers, hurts the team in the international game. International rules are different. The ice is wider in the International game and the rules favor a more wide open game. NHL players are used to playing on a smaller ice surface and rely more on muscle and positioning to win games. NHL players simply can't keep up with the international teams.

Sure, the teams that sent the US and Canada home early have NHL players, but not from top to bottom and the NHL players who hail from Europe grew up playing the faster brand of international hockey. US and Canadian players are equipped for a different game.

Part of the problem is general malaise. When professional leagues sponsor their all star games the atmosphere is festive and the players take it easy. It's an exhibition game where winning and losing is not as important as having fun and putting on a show. In hockey, basketball and baseball the all star game is part of a mid season break, where players get to decompress before taking on the last half of the season. It's like a seven inning stretch. In football, the all star game is well after the season and is little more than a gathering of the league's best players for a company outing. The point is that all-star games are not taken seriously.

So what do we expect when we assemble an all star team to play in the Olympics? NHL players are right in the middle of their season. They've been playing for a different team all year and suddenly we expect them to pack their bags and get geared up for an international tournament.

In basketball we expect the all-star team to get into game shape during a time of year they normally relax in preparation for the coming season. With the rest of the world suddenly taking a liking to basketball, we're finding that the US no longer owns the rights to hoops dominance. In cities around the world you're likely to find poor kids shooting hoops in a rundown playground. Sadly in the US the kids who used to shoot baskets until their fingers bled are busy playing video games. And just like in hockey, the international game of basketball is different than what is played here. In the US the game is dominated by big men in the paint and high flyers above the rim. In the international game it's all about the jump shot. Our players aren't familiar with having to play outside the arc.

What we need in both sports is a bona-fide national team. We might be better off fielding a team of guys who aren't quite ready for prime time and supplement the base roster with a handful of earnest professionals who really want to win. Instead of stocking a roster full of prima donnas who want face time, play the international game with some hardworking grunts who share the objective of winning Olympic Gold. If we must send professionals, try to send an entire team as opposed to selecting all stars at least they'll know how to play together.

One thing true sports fans can't tolerate is under achievement. That's what makes recent Olympic performances so unbearable. Two years ago our basketball team let us down, this year US and Canadian hockey failed to show up. We would rather see a team over-achieve and go home empty handed than watch a collection of superstars go through the motions and win it all. We prefer to root for the underdog. So why waste time sending a punch of pampered professional athletes to represent our interests in the Olympics? Wouldn't it be more fun to watch a bunch of nobodies give their best effort on every play?

I miss the Soviet union. There was something comforting about the open hostility and the mutually assured destruction. We knew where we stood and every four years we got to vent our frustrations in head to head athletic competition. Now Russia is a broken down shell of a country, the old Soviet bloc is a diluted handful of wimpy republics and our biggest enemy on the global stage is our own inept leadership. Where have the good times gone?

Olympic Action. It's...ZZZZZ...

Isn't it dramatic? Not the thrill of athletic competition, but the frenzied manner in which the sensationalists at NBC exhaust every resource to find some human interest angle that can be contorted in such a way as to tug at our heart strings. Imagine the joy NBC's producers must have felt when they discovered one skier's mom had suffered a severe injury when she lost control while skiing. Making the story even more compelling was the fact that the skier's father was the one who found her in the trees and employed heroic measures to revive her. If that isn't enough the woman in question is a cancer patient who has lost all of her hair. GOLD! Dingdingding...we have a winner. NBC needs to have a special medal ceremony just to honor the reporters who dig up the best sob story.

In every event some athlete is playing with pain and we need to know about it. This skater has a bruised foot, this ski jumper pulled a muscle in his back, that curler is constipated. God forbid an athlete should be in perfect mental and physical health during these events. Why is it nobody seems willing to mention the fact that every athlete plays with pain. There's always a strain, a sprain or a pulled something or other and for that matter if you dig deep enough you can find some distant relative who is ailing. Big deal.

That's why I'm sick of hearing about Lindsey Kildow. It's great that she was able to suck it up and ski after suffering a tough fall, but she wasn't injured. She was banged up. I don't want to take anything away from her. I am not doubting that she was in pain, but when she watches the coverage she'll be embarrassed at how NBC made her ailments out to be so severe. You'd think that she almost died. Lindsey Kildow didn't do anything impressive and she would be the first to tell you that. She did what any self-respecting athlete would do. She got back up and played the game. Lindsey's not exceptional by athletic standards, Michelle Kwan is the exception because she opted to bow out instead of playing through a little pain. Athletes are supposed to be tough. You'd think sportscasters would know this by now.

The we have the youngsters. If I had a dime for every time one of the announcers mentioned the inexperience of a particular athlete I might be able to pay to have them shot. After all, Sicily isn't that far away and I don't think biathletes would require much inducement to open fire on the media. This is the Olympics people, I don't want to hear about how good these clowns will be in three years. You're supposed to be at the top of your game right now. News flash! Nobody cares about the World Championships next year. Deliver big on the Olympic stage or it doesn't matter. Save the rookie crap for the odd years.

Obviously the enduring story from these games will be the mental mistake perpetrated by Lindsey Jacobellis. The US snowboarder is considered to be the best racer in the world and was favored to win the gold in the Snowboardcross. After poor showings in the preliminary races, Jacobellis muscled her way to an early lead and increased her margin after the other racers got tied up in her wake. After checking to verify that her closest competitor was out of contention, Lindsey took a moment on the last big jump the course offered to hit a little style trick. Stunning considering that she tried out for the halfpipe team and failed to qualify, but the method air she went for wasn't exactly a hardcore trick. Unfortunately she held the grab too long, landed badly and gave up her lead. She was lucky that only one of the other racers was on her feet or the silver medal she settled for would have gone to somebody else.

I can't be too hard on the girl since she has to live with her stupidity. It's not as though she was a part of a team that was depending on her to come through. Some might claim she was representing the USA but that's a load of garbage. She was representing herself first and she suffered the consequences of her actions. She'll continue to suffer them. This was the first time Boardercross was a medal event in the games and it will eventually be the main event in the Olympics because it provides the excitement that the other events sorely lack. Every time a skier or snowboarder makes a mistake that costs them a race it will be called a Jacobellis. In fact, it's possible that every failed trick in snowboarding will soon be called a Lindsey. That's a harsh punishment.

Bode Miller hasn't won anything yet. His best event has traditionally been the Super G and he failed to finish his run in these games. Insiders say that his slalom performances have been weak lately, so Bode might go oh-fer. Detractors will chalk that up to Bode being a jerk, but the reason Bode is so popular is that he pushes himself to the brink of disaster on every run. Sometimes that results in big wins, sometimes it results in big mistakes. That's the way he rolls. The reality is that if it weren't for potential crashes we wouldn't watch skiing at all. Agony of Defeat, baby. That's why we love Bode.

There are some idiots out there like PTI's Michael Wilbon who think Bode Miller is some sort of self-promoter who has insulated himself with excuses for failing before that failure actually manifests. This is not true. Wilbon should know better than to pass judgment on the Olympic hype. Miller has always been a bit of a flake who marches to the beat of a different drummer. Most skiers are a little odd. You have to be too ride down icy mountain slopes at speeds of 70 miles per hour. He goes his own way and doesn't make a big deal out of winning. He likes to compete, but he does it on his terms.

They hype around Miller is courtesy of NBC and various Olympic sponsors who see Bode as a marketable commodity. Miller is happy to take their money, but he hasn't changed. Another reality in regard to Bode Miller is the fact that he was never the favorite to win gold in any of the events in these games. He was only the best American skier in Turin. That's not saying much. Even so, the guy presses hard on every run knowing all too well that the next time he crashes he could shatter his pelvis or break a femur. If you can't respect that you might be an idiot.

Bryant Gumbel went out of his way to take shots at these games calling them over-hyped and he lamented the paucity of black athletes participating in Turin. Mr. Gumbel would do well to remember that these are the WINTER Olympics and as such feature sports that do not appeal to many black athletes. It's a cultural issue. The fact is most black athletes don't see the events in these games as socially acceptable. Shani Davis alluded to that when he was interviewed about his childhood. To borrow a bad cliche, some of my best friends are black... and none of them would be caught dead on a set of skis.

Why are we wasting time with Ice Dancing? This is like the minor league version of figure skating. How can I possibly be impressed with anything the Ice Dancers are doing when I know that there are better skaters out there who can actually do tricks that impress me? This is why black people don't like the Winter Games... we queer them up with white-oriented crap like Ice Dancing. Where's the soul? How about a little flavor?

Since artistic impression and choreography are such important elements in real Figure Skating, it makes no sense to have this ball room dancing on ice garbage. Are these the skaters who ride the short bus to the games? Do the real skaters pick on the ice dancers? And why don't the figure skaters who get too old to compete in figure skating just step down and Ice Dance? It's like the skating world's version of shuffle board. Lame. Scott Hamilton and Katarina Witt should hook up and show these Ice Dancers how it's done.

If you want to talk about athletes insulating themselves with excuses you should look no further than Apolo Anton Ohno. His big concern going into the short track 1000 meter final was team skating on the part of the Koreans. I watched the race and what I saw was a slow American skater get schooled by two much faster Koreans. No team work there, just an old fashioned butt-kicking. Ohno didn't accuse them of cheating but he went out of his way to make it sound like he lost because he outsmarted himself. That's not the case. The only excuse I'm buying is that the soul patch created some wind resistance. Shave that tuft of red scrub off your lip, Apolo. And next time pack your other "L".

How many different Ski Jumping events are there? Why don't we cut it down the big hill and leave it at that? Why do they have Luge and Skeleton? It seems that Skeleton is faster and more dangerous so drop luge and until they have coed naked double luge I really don't want to watch the Brokeback Mountain version of sledding that the double luge appears to be. Nasty.

Bobsledding would be more intriguing if they took a page from Boardercross and dispatched four sleds at the same time. That would really be like NASCAR on ice except the participants might be real athletes and there'd be a lot less inbreeding involved in rearing a driver. Guess what people do when they flunk out of truck driving school? They drive NASCAR. Yee-haw!

Biathalon would be very interesting if the contestants were allowed to shoot each other. I know that using real bullets would be wrong, but you could equip the racers with paintball guns and rewrite the rules to account for a combat oriented event. If they can have Fencing in the Summer Games, why not have a blood sport in the winter?

Why anybody would be interested in cross country skiing sans guns is beyond me, but they could make it like real cross country skiing and sneak some steep drops in on these guys. Maybe run some deer through the course to break the tracks up a bit and increase the degree of difficulty. If you really want to make it authentic you could hide barbed wire fences just below the powder and watch how the experienced Nordic skiers respond to those everyday obstacles your weekend warrior endures. Hey, you could even send some idiot hiker with unleashed dogs down the trail to mix things up.

I want to slam curling. I really, really do but the darn sport is somewhat interesting. It is a bit long. I don't think you need 10 ends. Four would be more than enough and speeding things up would really help. They already have a clock counting down an the time but wouldn't it be more exciting if they employed a timing format similar to speed chess? Sure it would.

Hat's off to the US Womens Curling team for finding a cute set of sisters (actual siblings, not Destiny's Child) to spice things up. Got to love the Johnson girls, eh? And don't tell me that Team USA didn't think the sex appeal aspect through. The US women are the only curling team wearing form fitting uniforms. Somehow I don't think wind resistance is an issue in curling, but I'm not complaining. Next year, however, wear fewer layers. It's a real shame for that cold air to go to waste, if you know what I mean.

We've reached that midway point of these games with women's figure skating remaining as the headliner. Hockey is supposed to be exciting, but for some reason NBC doesn't seem to think it's worthy of prime time coverage. Perhaps the medal matches will garner some evening love, but the secondary placement of Lord Stanley's favorite game should concern the NHL. I smell another professional sports league closing up shop and this time it's not another pro-football spin off. Too bad Lebron James didn't play hockey, eh? Five years ago we thought the NBA was heading for the showers. Now it looks like the NHL is on death's door. I'd shed a tear if I actually cared. Hey guys, when you have to find real jobs you might do better if you cut the mullet. Just a thought.

So, how many times will we hear Michelle Kwan's name mentioned in the coming week? 20 is the number. Over or under?